


Chapter 10 - Driving Miss Daisy

by SHIELDAgentMD



Series: SHIELD's Little Surprise [13]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Driver's Ed, Spanking, Surprise Guests - Freeform, Team as Family, love and fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 09:02:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9116170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SHIELDAgentMD/pseuds/SHIELDAgentMD
Summary: Adventures with Skye's new lil Lola begin, the team embarks on another brief mission, and an old friend makes a rather unpleasant-surprise visit.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I deeply apologize that this chapter has been SO long in the making. I may still make minor adjustments to it, but was determined to get it posted as a New Years gift to those who have been waiting so patiently. :) Enjoy!
> 
> *Ending updated on 12/31/16. I apologize, but I wasn't quite satisfied with the ending as I posted it, though I couldn't figure out why. I have now and have updated. Thanks for putting up with me! :)*

**Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D**

**SHIELD’s Little Surprise**

**Chapter 10 - Driving Miss Daisy**

 

This is a fanfic based upon the incredible television series, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.   This is the tenth in a series of stories that takes place not long after the Season 2 finale.  These stories are meant to be fun, sweet, thought-provoking and heart-warming.  They *may* or may not contain scenes of corporal discipline (spanking), possibly of a minor child.  This is *not* a ‘condonement’ of spanking children in any way, and any such scene will be depicted in a very loving, non-abusive manner.  If this may still be a trigger for you, I encourage you not to read this series.

Every character referred to is directly from the show/Marvel Universe, and I hold NO claim to the characters or the plotlines of the show that many of my stories are based on.  I *highly* recommend watching the first two seasons of episodes before reading these stories, as many references to events in the episodes will be made, and therefore, better understood.   **WARNING:  These stories will contain spoilers from the show, up until the Season 2 finale.**   (Minus what happened to Jemma Simmons there, because I refused to accept that!  ;)  )   **This particular story also references events from other Marvel films/TV shows, including 'Captain America: Winter Soldier' and 'Agent Carter.'**   Enjoy!

 

**Continued from Chapter 9 – Family Therapy…**

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

“Mommy, pleaseee?!”

“No, Skye.”

“But, please!!”

“Absolutely not, bǎo bèi.”

“But Mommy…!”

Melinda May sighs heavily as she turns to face the little girl who is scurrying along after her.  “Skye Daisy, after the terrible day you had at school today, you seriously think I’m going to let you *drive a car*?”

“But it’s mine,” the little imp whines, trying hard to pry the small key to her new mini car from her mother’s hand. 

“Skye, no,” May scolds, giving the child’s hand a warning tap.

“But… but… NO FAIR!” the little girl shouts, crossing her arms and stomping her foot.

May blinks in disbelief and crosses her own arms.  “Young lady… you are really pushing it.  The answer is no… not tonight.  And if you continue throwing a fit, then your car will go in time-out for a whole week.  Now go brush your teeth and quit pestering me.”

Much to May’s dismay, the stubborn little girl does not obey, but instead sits herself down with a loud ‘hmphh!’ right in the middle of the hallway.  An approaching agent just avoids tripping over her.

The agent mother frowns and closes her eyes, calling upon a Tai Chi breathing technique to help her remain calm.  Once she has pushed her frustration aside, she kneels beside her wayward daughter.  “Skye Daisy Mayson… I seem to remember you promising me just this afternoon that you would be good.  This is not good behavior.  Do you need *another* reminder of what happens when you are naughty?  Because you are *this close* to another spanking, little one,” she warns, holding her fingers an inch apart.

Pulling her legs up to her chest, Skye hides her face in her arms and shakes her head.

“Okay… so, show me.  Go brush your teeth and get ready for bed,” May prompts quietly.

The stoic warrior woman hears a quiet sob, then a muffled little voice say, “but… but I just really, really, really, REALLY wanna play wif my Lola…”

This miserable, squeaky little voice reminds May of just how young her adopted daughter is.  Just a baby, really…

While the mother feels a slight twinge on her heartstrings from the tiny girl she’s come to love, she will not be swayed.  “Well… then you need to earn it by following directions, bǎo bèi.  Come on.”  At that, May scoops up her sniffling daughter and carries her toward the bathroom...

When Skye was first presented with her new car from Iron Man himself, she had, of course, wanted to try it out immediately.  May wouldn’t have it though, not until it was thoroughly inspected by the team, especially upon learning that the darned thing can actually fly!  Before she could communicate this intention to Coulson however, Skye began begging.  Her father, who is unabashedly wrapped around the child’s little finger, had made the grave mistake of telling the little girl that they would discuss it after dinner.  May mentally curses him now, for having gotten little Skye’s hopes up…

As Melinda helps a sullen Skye change into her pajamas, the child asks, “maybe I can drive in the morning?”

May considers taking the easy way out and simply responding, ‘maybe’, but she decides against it.  She sighs heavily and pulls Skye into her lap.  “I’ll level with you, honey.  You won’t be driving that car until we make sure that it’s completely safe… that you won’t get hurt.  That may take us one day, or it may take several.  Now, I know that you’re excited and you want to try it out right now, but you’re going to have to be patient for me.  Okay?”

In response to this Skye whines, slips off of May’s lap, curls into a little ball on the bed and pulls the blankets up over her head.

“Guess not,” May mutters, reaching out to rub the soft little lump.  She sighs once more and grabs an Elsa and Anna ‘Frozen’ book from the nightstand.  “Well, since Skye disappeared I guess I’m going to have to read this book all by myself.  Such a shame that she won’t see the pictures,” she states ‘dejectedly’.  The wise agent-turned-mother begins to read…

… and it only takes little Skye half a page before she wriggles out from under the covers to peek up at the pictures.

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Overnight, the team carefully studies the instruction manual that Tony created for the car, and they are pleasantly surprised by his thoughtfulness and attention to safety. 

Fitz is perhaps most impressed.  “Wow, look at this.  That toy car comes with ‘collision prevention’.  It has sensors located on all sides, and will automatically come to a stop when within two feet of any solid object.”

Coulson’s eyebrows raise.  “Is that true both on surfaces and in flight?”

“Yes, sir.  Whoa… what’s more, little Lola comes with a remote control!  It’s currently in the glove box.  The remote will override any of Skye’s commands, if need be,” Fitz adds.

There are murmurs of appreciation at this.  “That’s what I’m talking about,” May mutters approvingly.

 “How is the car powered?” Bobbi asks, with interest.

Fitz turns a page and scans before coming to those details.  “It says that… it runs on nanobatteries, and thus should rarely need to be recharged.  In the case that it does need to be recharged the hood is a camouflaged solar panel… wait, what??  Wait… now, it’s one thing to install a nanostructured lattice at the cathode and anode of a lithium-ion battery, but in the presence of metallic lithium, liquid electrolyte becomes unstable!  How could he have managed…”

“Fitz,” May suddenly interrupts him, looking annoyed.  “What you’re saying… whatever that may be… is it something that should cause us concern?”

Fitz pauses, staring down at the small, sparkly blue car in apparent deep thought. 

“Fitz?” Coulson repeats. 

All eyes are on the engineer as he slowly exhales and throws up his hands.  “In most circumstances I’d say ‘yes’, but… Tony Stark…” he adds in true fan-boy awe.  “Uhh… anyway, *should* it need to be charged, it would need about three minutes out under the sun.”

Several people blink. 

“Three minutes.  That’s it?” Hunter asks, intrigued.

Fitz nods with a bemused chuckle, even more impressed than the rest at the skills of his idol.

“Okay, well… that’s impressive,” Coulson remarks, but then sees the look on May’s face and adds, “but Fitz, give Stark a call.  Make sure that you feel comfortable with that design before we let her in it.”

Fitz nods.  “Yes, sir.”

While May is impressed with all of this, she still has concerns.  “How fast can it go?”

“Uh, let’s see… 25 mph driving on a surface… and… oh.  Up to um… 45 mph in the air,” Fitz responds.

May’s features tighten but before she can voice her objections, Fitz quickly goes on.  “Aha!  But you can put a cap on the speed from the remote!  You can cap the height she can ascend to as well.”

May stares at him, then at Coulson for a moment.  Finally, her muscles relax somewhat and she simply shakes her head in disbelief at this, Skye’s new, incredibly high-tech ‘toy’.

Having been reading over the young engineer’s shoulders, Mack suddenly snatches the manual out of Fitz’ hands.  “What?!  Look at this!  An auto-recall feature… listen: ‘should you guys ever find yourselves in danger (cause I’m sure that *never* happens), or your base is infiltrated, you can program the car to automatically take Skye to a safe location of your choice.  If you preprogram the location’s coordinates, you need only press the emergency button on the remote and it will fly straight there.  Also, as soon as emergency protocol is ordered, a roof will emerge, windows will roll up and the entire car will engage cloaking panels, becoming invisible, armored and soundproof.”

Everyone falls quiet, looking stunned.

“Well, now he’s just showing off,” Fitz mutters. 

Mack chuckles and nods in agreement.  “Yeah… even with implementing Stark’s advice on our new safe rooms, this super-advanced technology puts them to shame.”

The mention of the safe rooms gives May an idea.  As the others move off to examine little Lola even further, May tells Coulson, Bobbi and Jemma about it…

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Skye wakes up early the next morning and the first thing on the little girl’s mind is, of course, her new car.  In her eagerness and youthful impatience, Skye imprudently dares to break a steadfast rule for the first time ever.

Upon finding her mother doing her usual Tai Chi routine in the training room, Skye slowly steps inside and cautiously approaches.  “Mommy?” the youngster whispers.

Surprised, but alert enough to know that Skye is not hurt or otherwise in any need, May chooses to ignore this ill-advised interruption.

“Mommy?” Skye tries again, in a louder whisper, taking another step closer.

“Skye,” a voice hisses from the doorway.  Bobbi Morse quickly but silently enters the training room and steers Skye back out.  “You know better, young lady,” she scolds in a whisper, landing a light swat on the child’s bottom as a nudge out of the door.

Skye pouts and turns to look up at the tall agent once they are clear of the room.  “But Auntie, I wanna drive my Lola,” she whines quietly, rubbing her small bottom for effect.

Bobbi raises her eyebrows and stands with her hands on her hips.  “And do you really think that breaking the rules will get your mother to let you do fun, exciting things?  You do not interrupt her in meditation, unless you really need help.  You know that.”

Morse glances up to see Jemma walking down the hall toward the pair.  The biochemist nods discretely and Bobbi nods back.

Glancing down at the defeated look on little Skye’s face, Morse kneels down and takes the child’s hands.  “Munchkin… listen.  There is a way that you can earn your Lola.  Do you want to know how?”

Skye’s gaze rises at once.  “Yes!” she nods eagerly. 

“Okay, well… Jemma here just set up a very nice tea party for you and her.  Let’s go see it…”

Skye blinks and starts to follow Morse and Jemma down the hall.  “I have a tea party… then I can drive my Lola?” the youngster asks, surprised.

“That’s right,” Morse confirms.  She steels herself mentally as she leads Skye into the rec room, toward the right side wall.

The curious child looks around perplexed… there doesn’t seem to be a tea party set up anywhere.  As they approach the side wall however, Skye pulls her hand out of Bobbi’s with a loud whine.

“Noooo!” Skye cries, immediately sounding on the verge of tears.

Simmons now steps closer and tries to gently reassure the child.  “Oh, darling… please wait.  We have set up such a lovely tea party… just come take a look.”

A nervous tear slides down Skye’s face and she crosses her arms as Bobbi lifts the cover on the hidden wall panel, presses her hand against it, and the hidden door clicks open.

Despite her disgruntled expression, Skye can’t seem to help herself.  She peeks into the room… and her crying ceases.

The small, previously barren room has been decorated in a most welcoming way.  After Skye’s initial traumatic reaction to the safe room, Mack and Bobbi took it upon themselves to make the room more appealing and much less intimidating to the little girl.  They attached a blue rope light along the interior edges of the ceiling, casting a soft almost theatrical light into the small space.  There are ‘Frozen’ posters featuring all of Skye’s favorite characters on the wall, and a shaggy light blue rug covering the cement floor.  Against the side wall is a magazine holder with several children’s books in it.

Currently, there is a tray with a tea set sitting on the rug, and Skye looks from it to Jemma and Bobbi and back again.

Simmons kneels down and rubs Skye’s back.  “Now darling… doesn’t it look nice?  I think that this could be a rather fun little play room, if you let it,” she states in her softest tone.  “So… here is what I propose.  I would really, really like to have a tea party with you in here.  Now… I promise that I absolutely will not close the door, unless you say you’re ready.  In fact… I will not touch the inside panel.”

Jemma looks carefully at the little girl and gives her a warm smile.  “How does that sound, sweetheart? 

Skye fidgets and scuffs her toe on the ground.  After a minute of careful consideration, she looks up and asks, “and after our tea party, I can drive Lola?”

Bobbi gives a slight smile.  “Well munchkin, you have your tea party, and I will tell your mom all about it.  She will be so proud that yes, she will let you drive your car after lunch,” she explains, as this had all been May’s idea.

The two agents watch the internal struggle play out within the fidgeting little girl.  Skye is clearly weighing how much she wants to drive her new car against how much she doesn’t want to enter a small, enclosed space.

Finally, the thought of driving seems to win out.  “Okay,” Skye mutters quietly, still obviously nervous.

“Good girl,” Jemma praises brightly, right away.  She gives Skye a warm hug, then ducks into the safe room.  “All right.  Come on in, before our tea gets cold!”

Skye watches Jemma enter first, then hesitantly follows.  She sits just slightly in the doorway, as if she’s trying to make sure that the door cannot close on them.

Once she is apparently confident that the door won’t be closed, Skye finally relaxes and explores a bit, examining the posters and curiously touching the rope light.  From there, they enjoy their tea party for about 15 minutes, and Skye finally seems to forget her discomfort completely.

“Skye, darling… you’re doing so well.  I’m very proud of you,” Simmons says softly, reaching forward to stroke the youngster’s hair. 

Skye just smiles slightly as she focuses on giving Trip a pretend sip of tea…

Simmons doesn’t make mention of the room again for the next half hour, simply enjoying the play with the youngster.  In a pleasant surprise, Fitz brings a small plate of Skye’s favorite cookies by, and Jemma doesn’t even object to the youngster having sweets before breakfast.  Finally, after the little girl seems perfectly at ease in the room for some time, Jemma decides to test the waters.

“So darling… what do you think?  How about we give the door a try?  Just one try sweetheart, and Mommy will be so very proud of you.”

Skye tenses slightly and fidgets, even more than normal.  She is clearly still nervous at the idea.

Jemma gently takes Skye’s hand and gives it a squeeze.  “It will be different this time, Skye, I promise,” she assures her.  “The light will stay on.  We can even put on some music, if you’d like.  And I will be right here with you, honey.”

Skye takes a deep breath, looking up at the warm blue light and considering.

After a moment, Jemma adds, “if you’re not ready, you don’t have to do it, Skye.  I’m very proud of you, either way”.  The biochemist smiles softly at her young charge, and gently strokes her cheek.

The knowledge that she is in control this time, and that she won’t be forced to do anything instills more courage in the little girl.  Finally coming to a decision, she slowly nods, taking another deep breath.  “Okay Jemma… I can do it.”

Simmons blinks, having expected Skye to accept the offer of postponing this challenge.  Before responding, she clicks the comm in her ear so the other agents can hear.  “Are you sure, darling?” she asks, somewhat against her own instincts.  “If you’d rather practice more, and try closing the door next time…”

“No,” Skye says firmly, her voice only shaking slightly.  “I can do it.  And I want Mommy to be proud so I can drive Lola.”

Simmons chuckles softly, then nods.  “I see.  Very well.  You remember what to do?”

Skye nods.  “Can we listen to music?

“Of course, love.  You may even pick the song,” Jemma chirps, pulling up a playlist on her phone.  “Okay then.  When you’re ready, press your hand to the panel.”

“The light’s gonna stay on, right?”

“Yes, darling,” Jemma assures her with a grin.

Skye nods, visibly steels herself, then climbs into Jemma’s lap before quickly pressing her little hand to the security panel…

Less than a minute later, the saferoom opens again.  The door swings open revealing a certain agent-mother on the other side with such a large smile on her face that she is barely recognizable.

Skye scrambles out of the room as fast as she can.  “Mommy!  I did it!  I did it!!” she shrieks, flying at May like a rather cute bat out of a cave.

“Oof,” May mutters as she’s knocked slightly off balance by her exuberant child’s pounce.  “You sure did, baby.  I knew you could.”

“Yeah!  It’s not so bad now, cause look…” Skye grabs May’s hand and drags her mother back over to the open door as Simmons crawls out.  “It’s gots light now, and we listened to ‘Happy’[1]!”  This fact is rather obvious as Jemma is now bouncing slightly in rhythm with the song, clearly pleased with her success.  May even gives her a rare smile.

“Well, not bad indeed,” Melinda agrees.  “I’m proud of you, bǎo bèi,” she praises.

Skye beams under the praise, and asks the very expected question.  “Do I get to drive now?!”

“Hmmm… have you been good all morning?”

Skye nods quickly.  “Uh-huh!”

“Oh really?” May asks, eyebrows raised again.  “So you didn’t come into the training room and try to interrupt me during meditation?” she asks pointedly.

Skye immediately bites her lip and starts to fidget.  “Um… well…”

After allowing the child to squirm for a few moments, May smiles slightly again.  “If you promise not to interrupt me during Tai Chi again, unless you are hurt or really need help, then yes.  Breakfast is ready now, so we’ll go eat, then we can show you how the car works.  After lunch, you may drive your Lola.”

And so it begins…

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

“No going past the 10 line, bǎo bèi.”

“Kay!”

May sets the speed cap on the remote anyway, just in case…

Having shown the youngster nearly everything there is to know about the car, most of the team now stands quietly by to watch her test it out for the first time.  Coulson, who was chosen to be her ‘driver’s ed’ instructor as he is perhaps best at staying calm in stressful situations, is kneeling next to the car giving his young daughter a final pep talk. 

“Now Skye, remember… driving is a big responsibility,” he says seriously, even as he pats the small, sparkly blue car.  “We don’t want anyone to get hurt, especially you.  So you need to be very careful and always pay attention to what you’re doing, and where you’re going.  Do you understand?” he asks gently.

Biting her lip to contain both her excitement and her impatience, Skye nods eagerly.

Phil stifles his smile and glances back at May.  The agent-mom, who’s finding it hard to remain stoic as usual, just raises her eyebrows and frowns.  Inside she’s still cursing Tony Stark.

“Okay then.”  After checking the child’s seatbelt one last time, Coulson hides his nervous sigh and backs away slightly from the little car.  “Go ahead and turn her on.”

With a delighted squeal, Skye leans forward and touches the power button with her key fob.  The car quietly comes to life. 

“All right… check your mirrors,” Coulson reminds her.  “Make sure you can see behind you.”

As the child does so Phil looks back at the rest of the team.  The agents are all wearing looks of either amusement or apprehension.  “You know… I really thought I had ten years or so before I’d be teaching her to drive,” he muses.

Jemma and Mack nod nervously while Bobbi and Hunter chuckle.  May just keeps listing the extensive safety features in her head for reassurance.

“Okay Skye.  When you’re ready, push very gently on the gas pedal,” Coulson states.

The youngster, not wanting to jeopardize this opportunity despite her excitement, does as her father instructs.  She feels a small thrill and gasps softly as the car moves somewhat smoothly forward.

“Now, push gently on the brake…”

After a few practice rounds of this, Skye is allowed to drive slowly all the way down the deserted hallway.  (All agents had been advised to avoid the area for an hour or so.)  The child shrieks, “I’m driving, I’m driving!!” most of the way.  When she gets to the end of the hall and accidently pushes the gas instead of the brake in her exhilaration, the entire team is much reassured when the car comes to a smooth stop on its own two feet from the wall.

As Skye drives back down the hall she honks her horn for the first time.  A brief snippet of a ‘Frozen’ song plays.  Jemma beams while Skye giggles in delight.  The rest of the team shake their heads, knowing that that’s going to get old very, very quickly…

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

After all of the build-up and excitement, poor little Skye only gets to drive her new car for about 10 minutes.  (The team had conveniently ‘forgotten’ to inform her that it can fly yet.  They wanted to get used to her lil car racing down the hallways first.)  Then, an alarm sounds on Coulson’s phone. 

“We have a mission,” he announces, as all agents turn to look at him.

May’s expression remains fixed, but she cringes inwardly as she steps toward the car heading slowly her way and says, “Skye… bǎo bèi, time’s up for today.”

The entire team now cringes as the expression of exhilarated joy immediately melts off the small cherubic face in the car.  “But… nooooo!” Skye whines in disbelief.  “But I only just started driving!”

“I know honey, but we have a mission.”  The mother uses the remote to bring the small car to a stop.  “I’m sorry,” May adds awkwardly, as she sees her daughter’s features fall.   She turns away as Coulson beckons her and the others to follow him to Command. 

As the youngster frowns and seems on the verge of a tantrum, Mack hurries forward and kneels down.  Always a pushover when it comes to little Skye, he tries right away to reassure her with promises of ‘taking her driving’ again as soon as possible, and keeps the tears shining in her eyes from falling by offering to make her a root beer float. 

“It’s gotta be our little secret though, Princess,” Mack whispers conspiratorially.  “If your mom or Jemma finds out, I’ll be in big trouble,” he admits, giving her a gentle tickle.  This elicits a small disheartened but accepting smile from a certain disappointed little girl, who nonetheless steps out of the car to take Mack’s offered hand.

Ever the sneaky superspy, Bobbi surprises both of them as they round the corner, looking at Mack with her eyebrows raised.

Mack tries not to look too abashed, knowing that his friend and colleague probably heard his every word.  “What?”

“You know that that’s gonna make Skye bounce off the walls, right?  There’s a reason that both May and Simmons are adamant about not allowing her soda or too much sugar… she has enough energy as is.  And we’re on our way to a mission.”

Mack looks hesitant for a moment, glancing down at the forlorn youngster still holding his hand, who is now scuffing her toe on the ground.  “But… look at her,” he whispers, giving Bobbi wide puppy dog eyes.

Morse just smirks and gives him a nudge in the side.  “You big, bad teddy bear, you.”

Mack mutters something incoherent as he leads the youngster toward the kitchen…

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

An hour later the team is on their way to a new mission, which is to meet a potential new Inhuman and act as the ‘Welcome Wagon’.  There had been a heated debate over what to do with Skye, but time was of the essence and every member of the team was needed, at least on standby.  So, it was determined that the youngster would come along, but stay in the plane with the standby agent until the mission was over.

That certain little girl, who is now hyped up on sugar as predicted, is currently working off her energy playing with Hunter in the training area as Mack is filled in by Bobbi.

“So… this guy wandered into a hospital because he, and I quote, “spontaneously sprouted wings”?” he asks in amazement as he reads over the notes from the hospital’s intake.  He glances up to add, “I will never get used to this crap.”

“Right?”  Morse nods once again.  “Well, it wasn’t completely spontaneous.  A local SHIELD agent was sent to his apartment.  They found fish oil pills, and his… husk or… shell… thing,” she explains, shaking her head in bewilderment.  She doesn’t think she’ll ever get used to these odd alien happenings either.  “This seems like a clear-cut case of another Inhuman transformation.  Coulson has set up alerts for any ‘odd’ stories like this to automatically trigger notifications sent to SHIELD.  He and I will be the Welcome Wagon; May is handling administration; Fitz will be accessing security cams and you and Hunter are back-up.  Simmons will stick with Skye, but is additional medical support if needed.  We’re headed to Indianapolis now.”

Mack nods.  “As strange as this feels to say,” he begins carefully, “I guess it’s a shame that we don’t have ‘Daisy’.”

Morse turns her gaze back to him and gives him an appraising look.

“I just mean… she had been so eager to find others like her, and would have made an ideal ‘welcomer’,” he explains.

Bobbi considers this, nodding slowly.  “It’s true.  She was a huge asset in many ways.”

“Still,” Mack adds, sitting back and stretching, “it’s not like I would trade in her current incarnation.  Not for anything.”

And at that moment, a giggling, rambunctious little girl comes running into the lounge, followed by an out-of-breath Hunter.  She runs right at Mack and Bobbi on the couch and pounces on the both of them, laughing wildly.

Lance stops nearby and doubles over with his hands on his knees.  “She… wanted… to get… you guys… to come play… with us,” he pants, looking worn out but content.

Morse chuckles and tickles the bouncy child.  She then raises an eyebrow at Hunter.  “What, you can’t keep up with a six year-old?” she teases.

Hunter coughs, looking affronted.  “She’s… a bit wild at the moment.  It’s like someone… overcharged her batteries… or something.”

Agent May enters at that moment to announce, “we’ll be landing in 15 minutes.  Lock it or lose it.”

Skye, still giggling madly, stands up on the couch and takes a mighty leap off of it.  “MOMMY!” she shrieks, running over and colliding with May’s legs in an effort to pounce on her as well.

Melinda blinks and helps steady the youngster, then immediately casts a suspicious look around.  “Who’s responsible for this??”

Mack avoids her gaze as he makes a production of putting his seatbelt on.  Not one to be fooled, May looks right at him and asks exasperatedly, “what did you give her?”

Completely unabashed, Skye hops up and down as she reports, “we had root beer floats!”

Melinda closes her eyes and sighs… a long, exasperated sigh.  Though her expression doesn’t change everyone present can tell by the thin line of her mouth that she is not pleased.  After a long awkward silence which is only interrupted by Skye tugging on May’s shirt saying, “Mommy… Mommy?  Mommy… Mommy…” the warrior-agent’s eyes slowly re-open.

She peers briefly at Simmons, who has just entered the room.  Sensing the tension, the scientist comes to a halt.

May reaches down and gently picks up her daughter as she patiently shushes her.  “Prepare for landing,” she states in a dangerously quiet voice, buckling Skye into her seat.  Turning to leave, May pauses, then her gaze shifts to the rather guilty-looking agent seated between Morse and Skye on the white couch.  “Mack… you will be sparring with me every evening for a week,” she informs him, with an intimidating stare. 

The very strong, capable agent visibly winces as he realizes that he will spend most of this next week in various states of extreme soreness.

“On top of that, once we get back to base you’ll have 48 hours to do inventory.  And I do mean, everything.  Oh, and I suggest you apologize to Simmons, who will be caring for Skye during the Welcome.”  As she heads back to the cockpit, May notices Jemma blinking curiously, looking to Mack and the still bouncy, wriggly little girl next to him.

“Sugar high,” Morse whispers to Jemma, while giving Mack an ‘I-told-you-so’ look.

Simmons groans quietly and shakes her head, seating herself on the other side of Skye and lovingly stroking the energetic child’s hair.  Skye happily starts giving Jemma a loud, excited play-by-play of the bildshnipe game she had just been playing with Hunter.  The young biochemist gives Mack a subtle glare before sitting back and mentally preparing herself for what will surely be an exhausting hour or two…

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

As soon as the team disembarks from the Bus, Skye tugs on Jemma’s hand.  “Jemma?  I’n hungry!”

Simmons blinks down at the child.  “You mean… you’re not still full from that root beer float that Mack was naughty enough to give you?” she asks teasingly.

Skye, still high-energy, giggles and shakes her head.  “Nope!  I’n hungry.”  To emphasize this point, she rubs her slender tummy.

Jemma sighs, immediately thinking about physiology and how consuming sugar can actually lead someone to feel hungry again soon after.  She nods slowly, thinking that the child can use some protein and vegetables.  The only problem is that the plane hadn’t been stocked with food, as this was an urgent, but supposedly quick trip.  Simmons thinks quickly, then knowing that the team couldn’t have gotten far, she uses her comms to contact Coulson and May.

“Director… May… I’m sorry to bother you, but Skye is hungry and we haven’t any food on the plane besides apparently…“ Jemma opens the cupboard, “beer and old pork rinds”.  Her disgusted expression can be heard in her voice.  May grimaces as well.

“So… may I bring Skye to the cafeteria in the hospital?” she asks.

May and Coulson exchange a look before the Director responds.  “The Inhuman we are welcoming has not shown any violent tendencies…”

“Yet,” May interjects seriously.  “He also hasn’t been cornered by a bunch of ‘men in black’,” she adds.

“True… Simmons, you may bring Skye to the cafeteria *only*.  She can have something to eat, then you both head straight back to the plane. Got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

Frowning, May shakes her head in obvious disapproval.  “Let me speak to Skye,” she orders.

Jemma takes the comm out of her ear and holds it close to Skye’s.  “Say hi to Mommy,” she whispers to the youngster with a smile.

“Hi, Mommy!”

“Hello, bǎo bèi.”  Not one to speak for the heck of it, May gets right to the point in her most serious tone.  “Now listen up… Jemma is going to take you to get something to eat.  Now this is very important.  You must stay with her at all times.  If you see me or Daddy, or anyone else, you can’t come up to us because we will be working.  Do you understand?”

Skye’s face falls as she considers this.  “But… why can’t I help?”

The protective agent shutters at the thought and frowns.  “Because Skye, you are not supposed to come with us on missions.  We… we never know what may happen.”

The little girl considers this for a moment, frowning.  “But, maybe I could help, I…”

“Young lady, I said no,” comes the heated reply. 

“But why?”

“Because I said so,” May replies curtly, then grimaces as she realizes she’s just used a phrase that she always hated hearing as a child.  This is serious though, so she adds, “we can discuss it more later, but for now if you keep arguing with me then you’re not going to take one step off that plane.  You can just be hungry until we’re done.”

A sullen “okay, okay,” can be heard through the comm.

“Excuse me?” comes the maternal voice, in a warning tone.

“Yes, ma’am,” Skye corrects herself dejectedly.

May nods.  “Good girl.  We’ll see you soon.  Behave.”

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

With that, Jemma leads Skye into the hospital.  The biochemist is extremely alert and journeys straight to the cafeteria, keeping a gentle but insistent grip on little Skye’s hand.  The child can sense that her ‘big sister’ seems nervous, but doesn’t know why.

10 minutes later, after Skye has finished up a bowl of soup and some crackers, she and Jemma move to exit the cafeteria.  From down the hallway comes a commotion… voices are heard around the corner, followed by quick footsteps.

“You can’t keep me here.  Get out of my way!” a man booms.

“Sir!” comes a familiar voice.  “We’re not here to hurt you; we’re only here to help.”

At the end of the hall figures emerge from around the corner.  Simmons spots May and Coulson’s backs as they walk backwards, obviously trying to remain between the man and the exit.  The man who had shouted is taller even than Mack, and visible from Jemma’s vantage point are a set of magnificent grey-feathered wings protruding from his back.

“Mommy!” Skye shrieks, stepping forward to rush to her mother.  She is halted however by Simmons, who quickly pushes the child behind her protectively.

May spins around, a horrified expression on her face.  “Skye, no!  Stay back.”

Jemma feels her heartrate quicken as she grabs the youngster and pulls her back into the cafeteria.  “Skye,” she says quietly, but in an urgent tone.  “Remember what your mummy said…”  At Skye’s confused look, Jemma shakes her head and reminds herself to speak ‘American’.  “I mean, your mommy.  She and the others are working, and you cannot go to them.”  As she speaks, Simmons kneels behind the doorway and quickly begins rummaging through her bag, searching for her small, emergency medical kit.

“But… but that man was yelling.  He’s angry.  What if he hurts…”

“Skye, I said no.  And Mummy said no.  Your daddy would say no, too.  You stay right here; don’t move,” Jemma adds sternly, finally locating the syringe and beginning to prepare it.

But at that moment there is a loud yell from the hallway and the duo hears Agent May yell out, “Coulson!”

Skye gasps loudly as she hears a grunt of pain from her father and dashes straight out the cafeteria door.

“Skye… no!” Simmons gasps, jumping up with the syringe in her hand and following the child.

Skye runs into the hallway and straight for Coulson, who is laying on the floor somewhat dazed.  “Daddy!!”

Everyone watches as the man, the apparent Inhuman with dark skin, black hair and huge wings, turns suddenly at the noise, and one of those powerful wings knocks Skye to the ground right next to Coulson. 

“Oww,” the child whines, before she is snatched up by Mack and practically tossed back to Simmons. 

“Simmons, get her OUT of here,” Melinda snarls.

“Hey… hey, I’m sorry,” the large, panicked man states.  “I didn’t mean to knock a kid over, I just… what’s happened to me?!” he bellows, in sheer desperation.

Jemma discretely hands the sedative over to Bobbi, then quickly pulls Skye back into the cafeteria and kneels to address her, holding her shoulders.  “Skye… what did we tell you?” she asks in a shaky voice, allowing her fear to show.  She strokes the child’s cheek.  “Are you all right?  Are you hurt?”

Tears well up in Skye’s eyes now that the shock of being knocked over is dissipating.  She shrugs, then gingerly rubs her elbow.

Jemma carefully lifts the little girl’s arm to check it over.  She notices only a slight red mark and after having Skye bend and twist her arm she is assured that it will only be bruised.  “All right darling… you’ll live.”

At that moment however the door to the cafeteria bangs open and a ticked-off looking Agent May enters, giving Simmons a brief glare before heading straight for her daughter.

“Maybe,” Jemma amends in a nervous whisper.

“Is she hurt?” May asks pointedly.

“N-no ma’am,” Jemma replies softly.  “She’s all right.”

Not one for words at the best of times, May simply grabs her daughter and tosses her over her shoulder as she walks back out.

“Daddy!” Skye shrieks again, reaching for him as they enter the hall.

Coulson ceases brushing himself off.  “I’m okay, sweetie.  It’s okay.  I just fell down,” he lies, smiling to reassure her.

Skye relaxes again over May’s shoulder, then stares curiously at the unconscious man lying face-down on a gurney with his wings tucked up behind him.  “Wow… how come he’s got…” she begins to ask, but is cut off by a firm swat to her backside.

“You disobeyed me,” May says in a dangerously quiet voice.

Skye whimpers and squirms a bit as she is carried up the cargo ramp back into the Zephyr.

“You are in big trouble, young lady.  You will sit here, buckled up,” Melinda instructs as she sits Skye down and straps her into her seat.  “… until we arrive back home.  Then, you and I will discuss this further.”

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

Skye pouts for the entire ride back home, which takes a little over an hour.  The other agents take pity on her and give her a wink or ruffle her hair as they walk by.  The youngster is allowed up once to use the restroom and Fitz gives her a little tickle as he helps buckle her back in.

May seethes inside for most of the ride. Does no one else understand just how badly this could have gone??  They are all babying her after she disobeyed orders from her parents and the team, and put herself in harm’s way!  Had the Inhuman, who is still out cold in the containment module, been frightened enough or inclined to violence, Skye could have been killed.  Is she the only one who gets this, or takes it seriously?

When May glances in the mirror and spots Coulson stroking the child’s hair and whispering to her, she grits her teeth and speaks up.  “Skye is in trouble,” she reminds everyone nearby.  “Stop playing with her so that she can sit quietly and think about what she did wrong.”…

Finally arriving at home base, Coulson stops May as she heads back to unbuckle Skye.

“May… what are you going to do?” he asks in a whisper.

Still simmering inside, May responds, “I’m going to teach her a lesson about obeying her mother.”

Cringing slightly as he imagines what that means, Phil sighs and says, “listen.  She’s just a little girl, who was worried about her family.  Go easy on her, Mel, she just…”

But Melinda pushes past him with a determined look and goes to undo Skye’s harness.  As she does so, she says quietly, “I hope you’ve been thinking about what you did wrong.”

But Skye takes this opportunity to try to plead her case.  “But Mommy, I wanted to…”

“Don’t you ‘but Mommy’ me,” May warns, standing Skye up.  “You had just two rules… stay with Jemma, and do not approach us during this mission.  You broke both rules and could have been badly hurt.”

As May turns to lead the way down the cargo ramp in the huge hangar, Skye just watches her, now wearing a deep scowl.  Upset that her heroine is walking away from her, the stubborn youngster suddenly shouts, “I’n NOT hurt, and that’s a dumb rule and you should let me help!  I can fight, too!”

Everyone freezes where they are and a swift silence weighs heavily on the air.  The team turns to stare, some of their jaws dropped slightly at the child’s brave, albeit foolish, choice.  Nobody can miss the quiet fury behind Agent May’s eyes.

May takes a few steps back toward the child.  “Oh… you can fight, huh?  Fine.  Let’s go.”  With that, she takes her naughty daughter’s hand and leads her quickly into the base, heading straight for the training room.

Once there Melinda calls out to all other agents, “everyone out.  Now!”  That done and the room cleared, she deposits Skye in the center of the sparring ring.

“So… you think you can fight.  You’re ready to join us on missions, huh?”  At the little girl’s determined nod the mother commands, “show me.”

Skye just blinks, now nervous and confused.

Now with a shred of fear-induced anger boiling underneath the surface, Melinda moves forward and roughly pulls Skye’s hands up into a defensive stance.  “I said, show me.  Attack!”

Little Skye’s eyebrows furrow and she throws a meager punch forward. 

May deflects it with laughable ease and scoffs.  “You call that fighting?  Show me what you’ve got, Skye.”

Now frowning more deeply, Skye tries again, throwing two punches forward.

May blocks them again and says, “try harder.  You think you can face an adult in combat.  Attack!”

With a growing scowl, Skye now throws a kick forward.  This time, May spins out of the way and sweeps the little girl’s legs out from under her.  Skye lands on her rear end on the padded floor with a wince.

“Get up,” May commands at once.  Skye growls in frustration as she scrambles back to her feet, and rushes at May, wildly throwing punches and kicks.  Within seconds, the child is sent back to her bottom on the ground.

Melinda sees tears welling up in Skye’s eyes and knows that she’s being tough on the child.  She hates being so rough with her, but her lingering fear over what had happened keeps her going.  Skye could have been killed.  All she had to do was obey her mother and keep her distance.  She could have been killed. 

On command, Skye makes two more attempts to rush her mother, but each time Melinda simply steps to the side and lands a firm swat on her daughter’s bottom as she moves past.  The next time that Skye’s legs are swept out from under her she lands on the padded floor and bursts into tears.  May’s heart breaks in two even as she determinedly says, “get up”.

But Skye shakes her head, rolling over slightly to rub her bottom.  “No…” she whines.  “No, I-I don’t wanna play anymore…”

May’s features harden once again.  “Play?  Play?!  Is that what you think fighting is, little one?  Play?”  With that, Melinda grabs her daughter and stands her up, giving her another firm swat.  She then prompts her tiny fists into place again.  “When someone is forced to fight, someone will always get hurt!  You seem to think that you are ready to fight, that you can run right into the middle of a mission.  So, attack!”

Skye however continues to cry and sits back down on the ground again.  May watches the tiny distraught child, her helpless, precious daughter, for a moment, then decides to take pity on her.  The youngster has obviously learned her lesson.  She moves forward to pick Skye up for some comfort, but is harshly stopped by a sudden, fierce kick to the chest out of nowhere.

She barely registers a figure dropping from the rafters in the ceiling before she is caught up in a fast and furious attack from the masked intruder.  Melinda is momentarily stunned to find that she can hardly keep up with the attacker, who strikes as rapidly as a snake with flawless control and remarkable strength.

She maintains her focus and is able to block every punch and kick thrown at her, but the sheer speed of her assailant quickly backs her into a wall.  Sensing the attacker’s next move, Melinda spins out of the way just in time to avoid a devastating kick toward her midsection.  May hears a little girl’s cry and just manages to yell, “Skye, run!”  In that moment of distraction, the attacker uses the momentum of their would-be kick to instead run two steps up the wall, then flip backwards right over May.  A nanosecond later they are able to pin May against the wall by her throat, and Melinda finally realizes who it is.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” she gasps, searching for a second’s distraction or a minuscule flaw that she can exploit to escape the stranglehold.

Hurried footsteps enter the room, and she hears Coulson’s voice shout out, “let her go, Romanoff.  This is not what it looks like.”

In a single smooth movement, the attacker removes her mask, letting loose a cascade of shoulder-length dark red curls, and snaps her arm back with a gun trained on Coulson.

“Really, Phil?” she asks incredulously.  “Because it looks an awful lot like you are training little girls to become deadly agents for your spy organization.”

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

“No,” Coulson insists gently, understanding immediately what the Avenger is referring to.  “No, I swear to you Natasha, we would never do that.”

“Then what’s with the kid?  The one who was crying because a fully-trained, deadly warrior woman was beating her into fighting?” she hisses, her steely gaze returning to Melinda, who still can’t find a flaw in the Avenger’s hold.

“She’s… my daughter,” May gasps out, her lips turning slightly blue.

“Her name is Skye.  She was an orphan… we adopted her,” Coulson adds quickly, very concerned for May’s welfare now.

“I was an orphan, too,” Natasha snarls.  “Not helping your case.”

Shit, Coulson thinks… of course.  “Natasha, I swear, we will explain everything.  Just know for now that everyone here, Melinda included, loves that little girl more than life itself.  Let her go,” Phil pleads, fingering the Icer in the back of his pants and praying that he won’t have to use it.  Or try to, anyway.

Skye, who is being held back by Mack, lets out a sudden anguished sob.  “Mommy!  Please!  Let my mommy go!” she pleads, in a terrified little voice.

That plea is the only thing that could reach Natasha in this moment.  She suddenly realizes that if this child does indeed love these people, she is no doubt being traumatized for life.  She slowly releases her grip on Melinda, who slides halfway down the wall coughing harshly.  As Phil holds his hands up in a gesture of peace, Romanoff also stows her gun back in her back pocket.

After Natasha takes a few steps away from May, Jemma rushes over to tend to her wheezing superior.  “Mack, come help me stabilize her!” she calls out.

After a subtle nod from Coulson, Mack lets Skye down, and the little girl makes a beeline for May. 

“Mommy…” she cries desperately again, tears streaming down her scared face.

Melinda swallows hard… or tries to, but finds that she can’t.  As she coughs again painfully she nonetheless feels overwhelmed with love and grief.  Love for the little girl who is so loyal, and so concerned for her even after her rough discipline.  And grief, that she had to punish the little girl to begin with, but even moreso that the youngster should be exposed to this kind of fear and violence at all.

“I’m… I’m all right, bǎo bèi,” May finally manages to hoarsely articulate.  “It’s okay.”

To the child’s surprise, the woman who had just attacked her mother kneels down beside her and gently asks, “hey, honey… are you okay?”

Confused and scared, Skye frowns deeply and pulls away from her.  “You hurt my mommy!  You’re sposed to be a superhero!  I haff your doll.  But you’re bad!”

Romanoff looks a bit baffled, then genuinely hurt and concerned at the fact that the child doesn’t realize that the attack was in her defense.  She recovers quickly though to gently explain, “honey, I’m so sorry.  I thought you were being hurt, and I didn’t like it.”

Coulson approaches and picks up a very bewildered Skye, moving her away to give Simmons room to tend to May.  He hugs the little girl to him and rubs her back as he says, “sweetie, I think this was all just a big misunderstanding.  And you’re right.  This is Natasha Romanoff, just like your doll.  She is an Avenger, a superhero.  She protects the whole world.  This time though, she was trying to protect you.”

Skye begins sobbing again as she just can’t comprehend all of this.  “Daddy… sh-she hurted Mommy…”

Meanwhile, May is trying to brush off a demanding Jemma, who is in full Dr. Simmons mode. 

“May, please, you’ve got to lie still, you could have internal injuries, your trachea could be…”

“Get off me,” May wheezes, resorting to shoving the doctor away.  “Skye needs me.”

Seeing the struggle and knowing May’s stubbornness, Coulson walks Skye over.  “Skye, Mommy’s okay, see?  But she’s going to need to rest, and undergo a full examination by Jemma,” he adds, both for Skye’s benefit but also as an order to his right-hand woman.

May glares at him for a moment, before acquiescing.  “Fine.”  Her glare then moves to Romanoff, for putting her in this position, both literally and figuratively.

Natasha simply returns the glare, not to be intimidated.  “I’m eagerly looking forward to your explanation of what I saw, Mel,” she whispers in her daunting manner.  “And it better be good.  Because I never would have believed it of you.”

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

While a grumpy, uncooperative May is examined by Jemma and a distraught little Skye is carried out for some storytime in the hopes of settling her down for her afternoon nap, the infamous ‘Black Widow’ follows Coulson back to his office. 

“So… you don’t seem too surprised to see me… alive,” Coulson points out curiously.

A smirk plays on Natasha’s lips as she offers up simply, “Stark.  He kept dropping hints that he knew something I didn’t.  So I showed up at the Tower and… persuaded him to share his intel.  Then well… I had to come see for myself.”

Coulson glances curiously at her, then decides both that it’s none of his business, and that he really doesn’t want to know.  “I see.  So, has he told anyone el… wait.”  Coulson stops in his tracks and stares at the Avenger.  “How did you get in here, anyway?!”

Romanoff simply raises her eyebrows, in obvious disbelief at the question.  Phil apparently remembers who he’s talking to and sighs, shaking his head.

He leads his way into the office, where he wastes no time explaining who Skye is, and the team’s roles in her life.  He then proceeds to explain how his sweet little imp had disobeyed both May and Jemma during a mission, and nearly been injured. 

Romanoff listens intently, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed across her chest.  Her expression is unreadable until the Director finishes the tale.

Coulson finally leans forward and addresses Natasha quite seriously.  “I understand what it may have looked like to you, but believe me… we all cherish Skye and would never, ever harm her.  I… I know about _your time at the Red Room Academy_ ,” he adds quietly and carefully.  “We would never do that to a child.  Skye does not have to be a SHIELD agent when she grows up.  She spends about 99% of her time here playing and learning and surrounded by love and affection.  Like any child though, occasionally she gets into mischief.  She receives loving correction when that happens, then…”

“It didn’t look all that ‘loving’ to me,” Tasha interrupts quietly.

Coulson meets Natasha’s intense, accusing gaze.  “Agent Romanoff… you know Melinda better than most.  And you know me.  Do you honestly think us capable of what you are insinuating?”

Black Widow stares Coulson down with narrowed eyes as she suddenly leans forward to respond.  “What I think is that spy organizations are capable of being ruthless in their efforts to ‘recruit’, expand and control,” she hisses.

Coulson pauses and slowly nods.  _When Natasha defied the World Council and leaked all classified SHIELD (and Hydra) documents to the public_ (Captain America: Winter Soldier), _much information about her own past was also revealed_.  The Director now knows details about her awful childhood… _how she was orphaned as a child in Russia, trapped in a burning building during an attack by Stalingrad’s opposing forces.  How her street smarts and skill attracted Soviet Intelligence, which began her intensive spy training and led her into the Red Room Academy._ From both these files and _files studied from the SSR and Peggy Carter’s adventures in Russia_ , Coulson knew just _how awful and abusive the Academy had been.  Their practices had included handcuffing children to their beds at night, brainwashing and beating the young girls as part of their training, and forcing them to fight to the death to prove their worth_ (Agent Carter).

As he ponders this, he studies the beautiful, fierce, accomplished agent across from him.  She had known such pain and unimaginable horrors as a young girl… it’s no wonder that she jumped to the conclusion she did, upon seeing May’s choice of discipline for Skye this once.

Coulson’s features soften, and he manages a sincere smile at the woman.  “Tasha… I want to thank you for attempting to protect a little girl that you don’t even know.  As someone who loves her very much, I sincerely appreciate it.  Not only are you one of the greatest spies and agents that SHIELD has ever known… but you are a genuinely good person.”

Romanoff blinks, caught off-guard by this turn in the conversation.  She chooses not to respond but shifts uncomfortably, making it momentarily obvious that she doesn’t agree with this assessment.

Coulson decides to let it go for now, and changes tactics again.  “Listen… why don’t you stick around for a while?  There are a few members of my team that I think you should meet, and I’d like the chance to help put your mind at ease, in regards to Skye.  Our current mission involves tracking down newly transformed Inhumans, indexing them, and helping them transition to life with new abilities.  As someone with plenty of experience with enhanced individuals, your expertise would be both highly beneficial and appreciated,” he states.  As an afterthought, he adds, “I know that after you two work things out, Melinda would enjoy catching up with you, too.”

Natasha can’t help but smirk at that, knowing just how ‘chatty and sentimental’ May *isn’t*.

As if reading her mind, Coulson smiles knowingly.  “You just may be surprised… your former S.O. is quite a different woman these days.”

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

Wanting desperately to go reassure and comfort her daughter after punishing her, and to confront her long-time friend and former mentee about the attack, May is even more uncooperative than usual during her examination from Jemma.  She had begrudgingly changed into a detested hospital gown, then allowed Jemma to peer down her throat and gently poke and prod her neck.  But when Simmons prompts her to lie still for an x-ray of the area, May loses what is left of her patience.  With a scoff Melinda pushes herself up and makes for the glass doors, but before she can reach them she hears a lock click.

Turning back to Simmons with an angry look of disbelief, May says, “did you seriously just lock me in here with you?  Have you lost your damn m…”

Jemma, slightly terrified, but with an air of confidence, quickly nods.  “Yes, I did Agent May, and I will not unlock the doors until I’ve seen an x-ray of your neck and cleared you.”

May is already furious at her own feelings of guilt regarding her tough punishment of her daughter, her seeming inadequacy due to losing a fight with a fellow SHIELD agent, and is also frustrated with Simmons herself for not keeping Skye away back at the hospital.  Add to all that her sudden vulnerability and helplessness in being slightly injured and stuck in this hospital bay, and May fails to mine her own emotions down.  She turns and pounds on the glass door a few times, then tries desperately to pry it open.

Over the noise of the older woman’s efforts, Jemma calls out, “we had those doors further reinforced after the _Cal incident_.  Only I have the code to open them, and I will… as soon as you cooperate,” Jemma adds bravely.

Utterly frustrated, May turns back to Simmons and starts to slowly advance on her.  “Simmons, if you don’t open this door right now, so help me, I will…”

The doctor suddenly turns to the pile of May’s clothes on the chair behind her, picks up May’s own belt and holds it out to her.  With a slight tremble in her voice, she says, “you may hurt me if you’d like to, Agent May… but I’m not opening the door.”

Hoping to call her bluff, Melinda snatches the belt away from the young biochemist.  It doesn’t work however, as Jemma stoically turns and leans over the bed, seemingly ready for May’s attack.

This heart-wrenching sight pacifies May greatly.  She silently counts to twenty, focusing on controlling her breathing and slowing her elevated heart rate.  Finally feeling a modicum of calm once more, Melinda drops the belt.  With a heavy sigh, she moves to Simmons and prompts her to stand upright again.

She gently lifts the young woman’s chin with her hand, and sees a scared determination in her ward’s eyes.  She pushes down the additional guilt that’s now building up in her, and swallows hard before saying quietly, “I don’t want to hurt you, Jemma.  I never want to hurt you.  I… I‘m sorry.”

Simmons lets out the shaky breath she had been holding, incredibly relieved.  She even manages a small smile as she nods.  “I know that you’re upset, May, and that you’re worried about Skye.  But I just saw you viciously attacked and strangled, and neck injuries can be both hard to detect and extremely damaging.  I’m worried about *you*.”

With that, Jemma gestures lightly back to the bed.  “Please, May… please.”

Suddenly feeling abashed for her outburst May simply nods, then moves back to the bed and lies still in acquiescence. 

Smiling softly, Jemma takes the x-ray and examines it quickly but thoroughly.  Finally it is proclaimed that May will experience bruising and soreness, but that no internal damage has been done.  Simmons unlocks the door.

Still not one for words, May simply places a gentle hand on the young doctor’s shoulder for a moment, then slips out of the room.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

 

May heads straight for her bedroom, knowing that it’s well past Skye’s usual naptime.  As she approaches the door she hears crying from inside, and it immediately tugs at her heart.  Pushing the door open quietly she peers in to find Fitz trying to console the distraught youngster. 

Fitz looks up as May enters.  “Oh, May… sh-she said she wouldn’t go to sleep without you,” he admits, his voice sheepish as he’s not exactly in control of the situation.

“Mommy,” Skye cries, pulling away from Fitz to run to her mother.

“Skye, be gentle,” the engineer calls out quickly.

The little girl slows down, staring at the redness still visible on her mother’s throat.

May kneels down and envelopes her daughter in a warm hug.  “I’m all right, bǎo bèi.  Shhh, it’s okay.”

Skye begins crying all over again, overwrought with fatigue and emotion.  May scoops up her beloved child and carries her over to the bed, then sits, leaning back against the headboard and holding her close.  She rubs Skye’s back and coos soothingly to her, kissing her wet little cheeks from time to time.

“I know… that was a bit scary, wasn’t it?” she whispers.

Skye nods, a hiccough escaping from crying so much.

“You know baby… Natasha and I… we are actually friends.  I have known her for a very long time,” May explains to the bewildered girl. 

Skye frowns in confusion at this.  “B-but, why did… ?”

A knock on the door interrupts the child.  Skye immediately cuddles up closer to her mother and May wraps a protective arm around her before calling out hoarsely, “come in”.

Coulson enters then, followed by Natasha.  May glowers at the Avenger, still in considerable pain.

Coulson moves forward and smiles down at his suddenly shy daughter.  “Hey… are you ladies all right?” he asks quietly, looking carefully into Melinda’s eyes.

May nods, giving Skye a gentle squeeze as she senses the little girl’s nervousness.  When her gaze returns to Natasha she notices the woman’s features softening as she takes in the sight of May cuddling the youngster.

“Hello Tasha,” May says sharply.  “Nothing like a surprise visit,” she adds with more than a hint of sarcasm.

Romanoff smirks slightly.  “Thought you wouldn’t mind me ‘dropping in’,” she states ironically, but then her expression softens again.  She clears her throat as she takes a step closer.  “Listen, Mel… I… obviously didn’t know what was going on.  What I was seeing reminded me very strongly of… of a past I would prefer to forget, and I guess I just snapped.”  Exhaling heavily she adds, “I don’t like seeing children forced to fight.”

May considers this, then nods slowly.  “Nor do I,” she whispers, her voice cracked and heavy as she glances down at her unusually silent little girl.  She notices with a pang that the child isn’t fidgeting all over the place like always.  She plants a gentle kiss on the top of Skye’s head, then says, “Bǎo bèi, this is Natasha.  Tasha, this is our daughter, Skye.”

Natasha smiles softly and gives Skye a small wave.  “Hi there, Skye.  It’s nice to meet you.”

The child responds by further burrowing into May’s side, her grip on her mother vice-like. 

Natalia moves forward and sits on the edge of the bed, after Melinda nods her consent.  She swallows down a lump of guilt and says gently, “hey honey… I’m really sorry if I scared you.  I didn’t mean to.  And I’m sorry that I attacked your mother.  I hope that you can forgive me someday.”

Skye still doesn’t respond and Coulson sighs quietly, giving Romanoff a shrug.  Then he speaks up, “Natasha is going to be staying here with us for a few days to help and to visit.  So, you’ll be seeing each other around.”  He says this for both Skye and May’s benefit.

Phil and Natasha both look for May’s reaction to this news, but the stoic warrior mom just nods subtly.

Coulson approaches the bed and plants a kiss on Skye’s head.  “Okay.  Have a good rest, sweetie.”

He and Romanoff exit the room.  Once alone again with her daughter, May continues to hold her close, and finally has the talk with her that she would have had after the child’s punishment.  She makes sure that Skye understands what she did wrong, and that it can never happen again.  She also takes this opportunity to explain that Skye will not be allowed to accompany the team on a mission again, in any capacity.  She will always either stay home with a team member, or go with one to a safe house.  This is because, “if I cannot absolutely trust you to follow orders, bǎo bèi, then you cannot be there.”

Before Skye can argue, May gives her a little squeeze and adds, “I understand that you were worried about us, honey, and I know that you just wanted to help.  But bǎo bèi, I am your mother.  I love you so much, and it’s my job to protect you and make sure that nothing bad ever happens to you.  I take that job very seriously.  I don’t want to see my daughter hurt.”

While the little girl certainly doesn’t like being told that she’ll be left behind on missions, she can’t help the small smile that appears when May speaks proudly of being her mom. 

By the time May is finished discussing the day’s events, Skye’s eyes have closed and her grip on the agent has slackened slightly.  May stares softly into the cherubic face with tear tracks still visible down her cheeks and wonders for perhaps the 836th time if she is doing right by the youngster.

 

**~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~**

**Epilogue**

Meanwhile, in Coulson’s office…

“So, now that we’ve caught up a bit,” the Director begins, “I can’t imagine that you came all this way just to verify my continued existence”.

Natasha blinks and frowns slightly at him.  “You know… I may not have always shown it Phil, but you did mean something to me.  You meant a lot to all of us… and now, you still do.  Of course I wanted to see you.”

Phil smiles somewhat awkwardly.  He’s become a bit more open and affectionate of late, because of a certain child who has him wrapped around her little finger.  But he had never been sentimental with the Avengers, and it feels strange to him now.

Natasha seems to sense his discomfort and averts her gaze.  “That aside, however… I do have another reason for being here.”

At Coulson’s curious glance, Romanoff steels herself before saying matter-of-factly, “I wanted to give you a heads-up, in person.  We’ve recovered evidence that an old ‘pal’ of yours, Grant Ward, is amassing more and more of a Hydra following, and is more and more hellbent on taking down SHIELD.”

Coulson immediately feels the beginning stages of a headache as he heaves a great sigh.  This news isn’t entirely surprising, but still sends a sinking feeling into the pit of his stomach.

“And… that’s not all,” Natasha continues carefully.

Coulson blinks and looks back up at her, bewildered.

Without further ado, she breaks the rest of her news.  "Nick Fury has fully recovered.  He's coming to see you soon and… he wants his job back.”

 

**To be continued…**

 

[1] Song: “Happy”.  Sung by Will Pharrell.

**Author's Note:**

> I appreciate all positive feedback on my works, and it encourages me to post more. Thank you for every 'Kudos' that you leave, and for telling me what you enjoy about my writing. Happy Reading!


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